


Karen Xiao backstory

by Lancier



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-15 16:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18673708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lancier/pseuds/Lancier
Summary: I would be shocked if anyone who wasn't given a link finds this. but in case you do, this is a backstory I made for a TTRPG character. Its under original works because:A) I don't want to clutter up the actual tagB) Dunno might use elements of this in the future for the R-SAMS project I mean to do





	Karen Xiao backstory

250 years ago, the Rosenthal systems had the unfortunate luck of being remote, resource-rich, and catching the eye of Jamerson And Sonya Mining Company. Once the JaS swept in, the systems were press-ganged under an aristocracy propped up by the Company to ensure a long a productive venture. In their greed, the statisticians of JaS decided that the cost of forced labor was outweighed by the benefit of great profits. Thousands of millions were forced to seek spoils underground as to fund golden spires while their own lives became destitute. Children born of this time lived a short life ended only by ruined flesh, and most families did not even bother naming their spawn, in order to lessen what they thought to be an inevitable loss.

 

The story of Saladin Khan begins here. By some stroke of luck, he was able to smuggle his way onto to a passing mercenary transport. For years he bid his time, earning distinction as both a warrior and eventually a captain. On the 30th anniversary of his departure, he returned with five warships and liberated the system group planet by planet. Though thoroughly outmatched by the corporation's private military forces, his prowess was so great that numbers were no object in his conquest. It is said that when facing the grand fleet of the JaS, he himself took to the void in his frame “Blue Eclipse.” After razing the capital of JaS, Khan landed his flagship _The Refuged Hammer_ in the ruins and deemed it the capital of an independent nation, bound to no masters. Though he was a strong opponent of dictatorships, Khan was elected by a majority vote by the system’s leaders and became the first Prime Minister, and in his honor the nation was deemed the Rosenthal Autonomous Khanate.

 

Functionally every reform Saladin instituted was to make sure the conditions he was born into would never happen again[1]. His government created infrastructure to make the RAK self-sufficient, made safeguards to prevent the government from taking too much control, and prioritized environmental recovery. At the same time, he executed the aristocracy that allowed the exploitation to exist, but he was so disgusted by their vileness that he instituted his most controversial reform. To make sure that self-serving legacies would never again plague the region, while also making sure that his people would also rise with their own power just as he did, he made it required to give up any children to the state for their first 20 years. While the state development centers are fairly standard in their care compared to other nation-states, this move does create a strong, and some would argue unhealthy, loyalty to the RAK. As a byproduct, the closest thing to family a ‘Raker’ has is their graduating class. After completing their required education, aptitude tests are given to determine the profession they will best serve their countrymen, and from there they are placed into a guild[2] to perfect their craft.

 

The story of Karen Xiao begins here. A model, if a touch dispassionate, student, Xiao was placed into the Voidsmen guild at the age of 20. Four years later she eventually did pass the requirements to enter the officer track[3]. But before she earns her stripes, she must complete the Trial of Exile, wherein an ambitious youth is cast from home and must earn a name within 3 years for themselves without any support beyond a standard Everest. Xiao plans to win glory and honor in a way that will guaranty her a position as Void Marshall in the future.

 

She seeks to come home with five warships.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Footnote time:  
> 1: Functionally Saladin would be about the same level of fame as José Rizal: extremely well known within an extremely specific place. After his first term ended, he retired to a rural agriculture world with his wife and husband, where they died at old ages due to natural causes.
> 
> 2: Guilds serve much the same way as unions do in syndicalism, but with a bit more feudal flavor
> 
> 3: The four years are split, 2 years for additional training, 2 years serving as an enlisted crew on a low-class vessel
> 
>  
> 
> I've never really done a backstory like this, I wonder if it shows.


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